Light of the Moon
by Taylor Hatake
Summary: A series of cataclysmic events is revealed through the eyes of fourteen-year-old Taylor Hatake, who with her father and grandfather, have to survive. As food and supplies dwindle and Chesapeake becomes a ghost town, it becomes a challenge to survive for the Hatake family. Summer turns to an arctic winter and death roams the City of Chesapeake. Will they survive?
1. One

**Summary:** A series of cataclysmic events is revealed through the eyes of fourteen-year-old Taylor Hatake, who with her father and grandfather, have to survive. As food and supplies dwindle and Chesapeake becomes a ghost town, it becomes a challenge to survive for the Hatake family. Summer turns to an arctic winter and death roams the City of Chesapeake. Will they survive?

**A/N**: This is the reboot (for a lack of better words) of "The Cataclysm" so a lot of things are going to be changed. Some will have been kept, others have either been added or subtracted from the original (yeah like the title right Taylor? Uhm yeah, of course... That has a very good reason though...it sounds better than "The Cataclysm"). I hope this version makes more sense!

**Genre:** Sci-Fi

**Disclaimer:** I don't own "The Last Survivors" series, but I do own "Light of the Moon" and the characters.

**Dedicated to**...I just want to dedicate this to Caliko for being an awesome friend. She's helped me over the past several months by being an ear for me, and her allowing me to write "Into The Past" has helped me to become more advanced in the way I write. I just..I must dedicate this new version of "The Cataclysm" to her...Just...Thank you!

* * *

**The Light of the Moon**

**月の光**

**.**

Chapter One

.

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Sunday, May 8,

Mother's day.

Mother's day is celebrated in my house by setting up the altar, putting a flower or two on it, lighting my mother's favorite incense, and with my father cooking her favorite food, which happens to be teriyaki marinated steak, which is my favorite food as well. We did the same thing we did every year, except this year my best friend, Makayla, stayed with us for supper. I had her over the night before so we could study for our Algebra SOL, which is tomorrow, and her mom couldn't come get her till six, and Grandpa was interrogating a witness till four, so we just kept her for supper. To me, that just meant more studying time. Yay...

"Subtract 3x on both sides. Rewrite the problem so that it looks like this (2y (less than) -3x+4)," I said. "Now divide 2y. What do you get? You get y (less than) -3/2+2, right?"

Makayla nodded and plotted it on the graph. "Yeah, I guess so. Which way do I shade on the graph, though?"

"If the 'mouth' is facing the left, you shade the bottom or towards the right...I think...I'm pretty sure..."

"Goddammit Taylor," Makayla laughed. "You're not **helping**!"

"I'm sorry," I cried and laughed. "I'm not Spock!"

"You're correct, Taylor," Daddy agreed. "Less than and less than or equal to shade bottom and to the right and greater than or equal to and greater than does that latter."

"Thank you Mr. Kakashi!" Makayla thanked my father.

"Thanks...Daddy..." I mumbled.

He handed us our snack and grinned, "You're very welcome, girls."

"See? Your dad knows."

"Yeah and he hates math," I grumbled.

"I know that silly!" she poked my nose. "I'm just sayin'."

Not too soon after, Grandpa walked through the front door with slurpees and...blood on his face? The blood on his cheek caught my attention before the slurpees did.

"Grandpaaa what happened?" I asked.

"The suspect is what happened," he grumbled angrily. "The _shiseji _attacked me and then Carlos had to come in and break it up. I got hit several times, which is why I have a cut on my cheek, but I landed many more on him."

"Ooh," Makayla flinched.

"Please tell me he's being charged for assault of a police detective," Daddy asked.

"That and a DUI _and_ arson," Grandpa then handed us the slurpees. "I promised a treat, so here you guys go."

"Oh thanks, Mr. Sakumo," Makayla smiled.

"Ooh, thanks. And triple charges?"

"We found him driving and when we pulled him out of the car, he reeked of booze," Grandpa explained. "So that's a DUI right away, and then there's the evidence pointing towards him for the arsonist in the arson case, and then he attacked me... There's no doubt he'll be put away."

Makayla and I nodded.

"He better. No one hurts Grandpa and gets away with it," I responded.

Grandpa chuckled and patted me on my head.

"Silly," he replied.

I grinned, "Damn right."

"Aww..." Makayla smiled. "Waaaait, she's sucking up for something!"

"No I'm not," I grinned.

Sighing, Grandpa took off his flannel shirt, revealing his white undershirt, and then his belt and folded them over the back of his chair.

"Y'all studying math?" he asked.

Without a word, Makayla and I looked and nodded.

"Give me the square root of six-hundred and seventy-six and then add forty-five to the root," Grandpa grinned.

I did the math on my scrap paper.

"Uhm...the squared root is twenty six and when you add forty-five you get...seventy-one?"

"I don't know," Grandpa laughed. "I was pulling a problem outta my ass, so I wouldn't know exactly what the answer was...but you said it was seventy-one?"

Makayla did it on my calculator and nodded, "Ja."

"So yeah," we nodded.

"Oh good," he headed into the kitchen. "I'll try to remember that."

"Good luck with that, _ojiisan_," I teased.

Makayla laughed, "Ha! I mean...yeah...good luck with that."

"I know..." he sighed. "Oh and Makayla, is your mom still okay with picking you up at six? I am too tired to go back out tonight."

She nodded, "Mhm. Yeah, she's still okay with that."

A soft smile formed on his lips as he said, "Good."

Without another word, he pulled out a pan and began preparing supper. My grandpa, at work, a police detective. At home, a grandpa, a dad, and a chef...of sorts (but my god does he cook the most fantastic, most delicious steak...).

Makayla went home at six exactly, but she left with a happy look on her face since she got to have the "Famous Hatake Steak", as the chief calls it, for the first time (oddly enough). She loved it, and made Grandpa feel much better to know she loved it. I'm glad he feels better now.

Daddy came into my room later tonight and told me my mom would be proud of me. At first, I didn't know why till he showed me my report card.

"Just got your report card from the third quarter of this semester," he said, handing it to me. "I'm very proud of you, and so would your mother."

I looked. Straight A's.

Mom, if you're reading this right now, I feel your pride right now. Thank you.

Monday, May 9,

I can't believe I flew through that SOL within an hour. Perhaps it's because I actually studied for it...I guess that helped a bit.

Tuesday, May 10,

Today was Kenta-Sensei's birthday and he actually came to practice instead of Yamato-Sensei, which surprised me a bit when I walked into the doujou at 4:30 this afternoon. I walked inside and caught sight of him waiting for the class to get there.

"Kenta-Sensei?" I asked.

He looked up from his iPhone and smiled, "Hey there, Taylor-San."

I smiled back and bowed to him, "_Genki desuka_?"

"Ah...I'm fine," he replied, looking back at his phone and blushing.

I walked towards him and he looked back at me.

"Okay, look at what Yamato sent me on Facebook," he showed me the screen. On the screen was a picture of Yamato-Sensei trying to look scary, and then underneath there was a picture where he's making a heart with his hands and wrote the caption underneath, "Happy birthday Otouto-kun!"

"Aww...how cute," I smiled. "But...where is Yamato?"

"Japan," Kenta replied. "He won't be back till...prolly after five on the eighteenth."

"Oh..."

_"_Yeah..._I'll_ be here till he gets back," he chuckled.

Perplexed, he looked up quickly, looked down and then looked back up and furrowed his eyebrows.

"Damn, they're here," he muttered. "And so is your_ boyfriend_," he bantered.

"Aw...Kenta-Sensei, he's not my boyfriend," I murmured.

Kenta laughed.

"Haha, _koibito_, he's into you," he grinned. "Have you not seen the way he looks at you?"

I looked down and scratched my head in embarrassment, "Y-Yeah I suppose so."

Again, Kenta laughed and patted my back.

"Why don't you get the class seated and get them settled," he suggested. "Yamato is wanting to call me so I may be a few minutes."

I nodded, "Yes sir."

He walked out to talk to him and I watched everyone come in.

"Sit down, stay quiet. You know what to do," I told them.

Miguel came up to me and smiled.

"_Buenas tardes_, he greeted.

"_Buenas tardes_," I responded.

"How're you?"

"Ooh goodness, I'm fatigued," I murmured. "I didn't sleep much last night. Though, I got lucky this morning when my grandpa took me to school because he stopped off at 7-11 to get me a cup of hot cocoa to wake me a bit."

"Aww..." he glanced around. "Oi, where's sensei?"

"Which one?" I laughed.

"Who's here today?"

"Kenta."

"Where is he?" he questioned.

"Off talking to Yamato-Sensei...who is in Japan till the eighteenth."

"Ooooh..." Miguel looked down. "Papi is taking me to México that week for a small vacation...and because...well...maybe _mí tío_ died."

"Aww... I'm sorry," I said.

"Not your fault," he smiled. "Luckily, I don't have anymore SOLs so I can miss a week. It'll be a pain to make up, but oh well."

I nodded, "Alright."

Kenta came back and I made Miguel sit down.

"Your uncle is a weirdo," he said.

"I know," I giggled.

Now, you must be wondering why Kenta called him my uncle, right? Well, Daddy made it clear to them that they were family and that they would be my uncles. Both agreed. Now if it wasn't already obvious, Kenta and Yamato are brothers, so put the idea that they are a gay couple out of your head (whoever reads this)! So...that answers that... And with that, I sat down and we began.

Friday, May 13,

Friday the thirteenth. Pretty bad for me.

My period started last night, and with my period comes horrid cramping. Usually, I take something before school, but today I forgot to take a midol _and_ I forgot to eat breakfast. Bad combo! It was second block Spanish when they started, and we were in the middle of reviewing. I groaned softly and I kept myself in the room for as long as I could before I couldn't bear the pain. Quickly, I dug out my agenda from my backpack, I filled it out and took it up to Señora Owens.

"Señora," I whispered. "¿_Puedo voy a la enfermera, por favor? Estoy enferma_..."

Oh yeah, of course in Spanish class...you have to speak Spanish...

She looked up and nodded, "_Sí, sí. Diste mí tu agenda_."

"Sí," I handed it to her.

Without a word, she signed the pass and I walked out. My long trek to the "pit" area made the cramping even worse, so once I got there I was torn between using the stairs and the elevator. Would the elevator be better than the stairs? My quivering body reached for the elevator, though my mind said stairs. My legs carried me to the elevator and made me go in. It took me down and I stumbled out. My stomach churned and my mind was focusing on finding the bathroom.

"Señorita!" I heard.

One one person calls me "señorita", besides my Spanish teacher, and that was Miguel.

I looked around till I saw him sliding down the railing of the stairs. I clutched my agenda and then wrapped my arms around my stomach. He jumped down and ran to my side.

"Señorita!" he exclaimed. "_Te veo mal_! What's wrong?"

I looked at Miguel, "Damn...cramps. I forgot to eat so-"

Oh I can help with that!" he grinned. "A quick snack'll help you a bit."

I tried to protest against that, but before I could he whipped out his wallet.

"I'll be right back," he winked, dashing to the closest snack machine.

Speechless, I stood there and watched him.

"Oh...you're insane..." I sighed a little bit. "Better not get caught."

He came back within a minute with a small bag of cheez-its.

"Eat it, rápido!" he urged.

So I did, though I didn't think it'd help. I was right too, because eight crackers in, my stomach churns and I definitely was gonna puke.

"Oh god," I covered my mouth.

Miguel jumped.

"Uh oh..." he took the bag from me. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry. Uhhh... Bathroom, c'mon!"

He grabbed my hand and rushed me to the bathroom. I followed behind him as he dragged me to the first open stall (which was a big one so both of us could fit in it comfortably) in the girls' bathroom and he sat me down and shut the door before anyone could see him.

"You're insane," I stuttered.

"Dude, you were about to puke, I had to do it," Miguel replied.

I groaned softly, "We're in a bathroom...you're a guy...I'm a girl...anything could—" I turned and threw up in the toilet. I took a moment to recover and I finished what I was saying, "happen..."

"No," he chuckled. "I don't think so."

I threw up again soon after (because my stomach was so pissed that I ate) and he rubbed my back gently.

"Sorry, I didn't think that'd happen," he apologized softly.

"It's fine," I whispered. "Just help me to the nurse."

He nodded, "As long as you can make it there without puking again."

"Yeah..." I stood up shakily, flushed the toilet and I clung to his arm as we walked out. Before we got out of the bathroom, I lost my footing so he picked me up and just ran me to the nurse. Luckily, the nurses' office wasn't too far, but as soon as we got there I had to puke again. I covered my mouth to let him know that and he acknowledged it with a nod. Eyebrows furrowed in worry, he took me in and announced us.

"My friend here is about to puke, where do I take her?" he asked the nurse.

She looked up, "Put her in the bathroom," and pointed to the room with the bathroom.

He nodded and took me into the bathroom and sat me down. Again, I threw up. I threw up three more times before I was done.

"I think I'm done," I whispered after a few moments.

"Alright, here, I'll carry you to a bed and lay you down, okay?"

I nodded and allowed him to carry me to a bed and lay me down. Moments later, the nurse came in.

"Honey, can I get your name and someone to call to pick you up, please?" she asked.

I nodded.

"Taylor Hatake, and uhm...you can call my grandpa, Sakumo Hatake, at 757-576-6696." I responded.

The nurse nodded.

"Thank you," she smiled and left.

"I'll get your stuff from you class if you want me to," Miguel said.

I nodded.

"Please?"

He grinned, "I will."

When we heard the nurse start talking, we fell silent.

"Hello? Is this Mr. Hatake? This is your granddaughter's school nurse calling. It seems Taylor is feeling sick, as she threw up. Can you come get her? Uh-huh...I'll tell her. Thank you."

We heard her put the phone down and Miguel and I looked at each other.

"Grandpa says he'll be here in about ten minutes. Do you want someone to get your stuff or do you feel well enough to do it yourself?" the nurse asked, walking in.

"I'll do it," Miguel offered. "My teacher won't mind me doing so."

"What class do you have, Miguel?" she asked.

"Right now I'm in Mr. Davidson's English class and Taylor is in Mrs. Owens' Spanish class."

"Alright, if you say so. I'll let both teachers know what's going on, okay?"

Miguel nodded, "Yes ma'am."

The nurse smiled and left again and Miguel looked at me.

"You cold?" he asked.

I nodded.

"Here..." He took off his jacket and gave it to me. "You can borrow it."

"I'll give it back Monday," I promised. "It might go through the wash, but you'll have it back."

"Don't bother on Monday, I won't be here. And, I won't be needing it till autumn anyway," he said. "I'll be back with your stuff, okay?"

As I put the jacket on, I nodded. He smiled and left afterwards. Before he came back with my stuff, I was alone for about three minutes.

"Backpack and lunchbox," Miguel grinned. "All ready to go home with you."

"Thanks," I smiled.

Carefully, he dropped the bag and lunchbox, and then sat down beside me.

"Sorry your cramps are so bad," he apologized, rubbing my back. "And I am sorry I made it worse."

"It's okay, it's not your fault," I smiled.

He smiled back and then hugged me.

"I've gotta get back to class, I've been gone for about twenty minutes," he apologized again. "Sorry."

"That's fine," I whispered. "Please go back before you get into trouble for helping me."

Miguel smiled.

"Alright." He hugged me against and stood up. "See ya whenever I get to see you."

"See ya," I smiled shakily.

He grinned and left. Sitting still, I waited a painfully long time (well to me) for Grandpa to get there. When he did, I was still feeling awful so I let him come in and get me. He walked in and looked at me.

"Ready to go?" he asked softly.

I nodded, blinking the tears from my eyes.

"Mhm," I stood up shakily and he pick up my backpack and lunchbox. Offering a calm, gentle smile, he slung my backpack over his shoulder and held out his hand.

"Let's go," he said.

I took his hand and let him lead me to the truck. Within a few minutes, we got to the truck and while Grandpa put my backpack and lunch box in the back, I got myself situated in the passenger seat. Moments later, Grandpa got inside the truck and turned on the truck, buckling in of course.

"I'm sorry," I apologized to him. "I forgot to eat breakfast and to take a painkiller this morning...my hunger made my cramps become worse.

Grandpa pulled out of the parking space and pulled out of the parking lot.

"So how do you explain the puking if you had nothing in your stomach?" he asked.

"Miguel gave me some crackers to eat. The pain was so bad at that point that it made me throw it back up..."

He looked at me.

"Oh yeah...that'll certainly do it," he sighed. "It's alright, sweetheart. We weren't doing anything important anyway."

"That's good, I suppose," I whispered.

Grandpa nodded.

"When we get home, you are to crawl under some blankets with a heating pad and your Takamichi doll, drink the tea I give you, eat your lunch, and just relax, got it?"

"Yes Grandpa."

Tears poured from my eyes from the pain and at the stoplight, he kissed my head.

"Everything'll be fine, okay sweetheart?" he assured.

I nodded. And so, for the rest of the day, that's what I did basically. Rest. A desperately needed rest as well.

Sunday, May 15,

I took a bike ride around Oak Grove Lake this morning. Everything was quiet and peaceful. The temps hovered in the upper sixties, which was all thanks to the clouds in the sky, so I was certainly enjoying the weather. Though, I think around my third lap, it had started raining so I had to finish the lap (because I was already halfway done with the lap) and head home. Yeah, I was soaked by the time I got home, and I was so soaked I had to stand in the kitchen till my dad came downstairs with my pjs and a dry towel. I was in the kitchen because I had to put my bike in the garage so it wouldn't rust, heh...

When my dad did come down the stairs with my clothes, I took them and he turned around to allow me to change (because he wouldn't let me cross the carpet to go to the bathroom) and so I did. And, I changed into them very quickly and then began drying off.

Not too soon after I got dressed, Grandpa walks in through the front door with Chief Grant and I walked out of the kitchen with my wet clothes folded over my arm and using the towel to dry my ears a bit because I had my head tilted and water got in my ear. Oops.

"Yeah most of my book collection consists of Dean Koontz and Stephen King," Grandpa said. "Taylor wonders how—"

He looked up and saw me, "Oh...hey there Taylor...heheh...morning?"

"Morning Grandpa," I replied.

"Hello there, our favorite meteorologist/astrophysicist," the chief greeted me.

"Hola," I replied.

"What, did you get caught in the rain while out for a bike ride?" Grandpa laughed.

"Yeah," I sighed. "Nice temps, I had to."

"Mm..." Grandpa patted my back. "I'll be out in a sec, I promised to lend the chief the first four books of the Dark Towers series."

"Okay..." I turned and watched him brush by as he went for the garage.

The chief looked at me and grinned.

"Taylor, have you heard about the asteroid that's supposedly hitting the moon on the 18th?" he asked me.

For a moment, I pondered if I'd heard about it or not, but it didn't ring a bell.

"No sir," I responded quietly. "Weirdly enough, I haven't."

"Wow really? Don't you follow the Today show or Wavy?" he asked, surprised.

"I do, but Grandpa has been taking me to school early so I've been missing it. Plus, on weekends I tend to sleep in so I usually miss them."

"Well, there's one hitting the moon on Wednesday. The guys at NASA says it'll be a spectacular sight, so I think if we can, we'll watch it at the precinct. I'm willing to bet your school will do something similar."

I nodded, "Prolly."

Grandpa came back with the book and handed them over to the chief.

"Thanks man," he grinned.

"It's nothing," Grandpa smiled. "I am glad to lend out my books, I mean, I practically own my own library."

They both chuckled.

"Yeah, that's pretty obvious," he said. "I'll bring 'em back by next Thursday. With being a chief, it's a pain in the arse to squeeze in reading time."

"I can imagine," Grandpa grinned.

"Yeah," Grant smiled.

"See ya later then."

"See ya."

"And see you later, Professor Taylor," he winked at me.

"See ya." I waved as he left.

Without a word, he left and I wrapped my hair up with the towel and rung it out so it'd dry faster

"Hey Grandpa, have you heard about the asteroid hitting the moon?" I asked.

He gazed down at me for a moment.

"You know, now that you mention it, I have heard about it. Unfortunately, they've been predicting that Wednesday will be mostly cloudy and perhaps a possible shower so I dunno if we'll be able to see it..."

"Hm," I nodded.

"Don't worry, Wednesday is far away from now. The weather models may change between now and then," Daddy said.

"I know," I whispered.

"And, if your school is gonna do something, I can always take you," Daddy reminded me.

"Alright..."

"They'll call us anyway when the time comes," Grandpa laughed.

"True," Daddy and I agreed.

And I spent the rest of the day wondering about it.

Monday, May 16,

Sheesh, this moon thing is bigger than I thought. Or...perhaps my teachers want to give us something else to do other than study for the exam/SOL.

So in science, Mr. Griffon gave us a lecture on the moon and about the Apollo missions. Then, gave us an essay about them. We get to choose which one we got to write about, and I of course chose Apollo 11. This is due Friday.

Same in Spanish with Señora Owens. She talked about la luna and gave us a composition about it. Due Friday, of course.

Ms. King, my English teacher, made us talk about the moon and then do an "In The News" assignment about the moon.

If you're wondering, I was truly a wreck when I got home. None of those classes were astronomy classes, so we shouldn't have to talk about it AND have essays due on the same day.

So, when I came home, I threw my backpack into the couch and collapsed before it.

"That was the worst 8 hours of my life," I hissed.

"What did you guys do?" my father questioned gently.

"Next to nothing we were supposed to do," I huffed. "I have three homework assignments on the moon, due Friday. We're supposed to be reviewing for the exams/SOL, not learning about la luna."

Daddy crouched beside me.

"I wouldn't think this to be as important as exams," he mentioned. "Why would they drop everything to learn about the moon?"

"Exactly," I sighed. "And I dunno, but it's stupid."

"It is..." he agreed, rubbing my back. "Sorry sweetheart."

"It's okay," I murmured. I glanced up and looked around. "Where's Grandpa?"

"Grandpa is at work and won't be back till twelve," Daddy responded, standing up. "So I'm cooking. What d'you want for supper?"

"Anything is fine Daddy," I said, standing up as well. "Yakisoba, I supposed."

I paused, "Unless we have steak...I'd like steak..."

Daddy grinned, "Anything, _koibito_."

I smiled.

"I suppose I'll get started on my homework, then."

"Good idea."

So, I sat down and decided to double up my essays by translating my science into spanish, which I'm working on right now. What a pain!

Tuesday, May 17,

Grandpa got up with me this morning but he wasn't going to work. In fact, his back was hurting badly so he took a sick day.

Got my Algebra 1 SOL score back and I got a 515. That's good. Actually, that's fantastic. My first math SOL that I've gotten better than a 400-something.

Wednesday, May 18,

My day was long and terrifying towards the end by tonight's event. I have never felt as scared as I was, and still am.

This morning seems like eons ago now. I remember waking up and looking out my window, seeing a very gorgeous sunrise and the moon hiding behind the mulberry tree in the backyard. A chill went down my spine this morning, but I ignored it.

Everything was normal in school.

I even fell asleep after my science SOL.

Grandpa picked me up and drove me home instead of me riding the bus. He made supper, but couldn't stay because he had work. So, Daddy and I ate and afterwards I began my homework. I finished by seven, which in effect allowed us to actually watch Wavy. We watched Wavy TV 10 till about 8:45. You could certainly tell they were excited because the moon is all they talked about, next to some minor news and the weather. Don Slater gave us tonight's forecast; getting cloudier, the wind will pick up, barometric pressure will drop so we have a chance of T-Storms by 11pm. It's past 11, so it is raining.

You could certainly tell how much the astronomers they had on the air love their jobs. I want to be an astronomer...and a meteorologist too! Well...at this point, I don't know if I'll have that chance to do both, but that's later.

My school was doing the asteroid watch...thing...and since we don't have a telescope, I asked Daddy to take me to school so we could see. I wanted to see the asteroid hit the moon, though I regret wanting to see. Sorry, I keep going off on a tangent...

Daddy agreed to take me to school so we could watch, so at 9 we left and headed to school. I stared out the window at the moon and I smiled at it. At that time, it looked like the size of a dime in the sky and it was a half-moon. The moon was _chiisai_, small, and seemingly benign..._Seemingly_ benign...

We got to the school and found everyone on the practice field behind the school, the science teachers with their telescopes out and the adults managing the table holding snacks and drinks. Daddy drove around to find a spot to park, and then we got out and headed to the field. I met up with my science teacher and asked to look through the telescope and he agreed to let me do so. Dad grabbed drinks for us and we sat at my teacher's telescope. That was 9:!5.

By 9:30, everyone was settling down so they could see what was gonna happen. I began looking through the telescope at about 9:33 and everyone without binoculars or a telescope crained their necks to look.

As soon as I caught sight of the asteroid, I tapped Daddy's hand and told him to look. Together, we looked up at the sky and saw the asteroid collide with our moon. _Our moon_.

Everyone basically cheered, except Daddy and I. Naturally, we're quiet, so instead of cheering we grinned at each other. The cheering lasted all of thirty seconds before people started screaming bloody murder.

"Holy shit!" I heard someone scream.

"What? What the fuck is going on?" I heard a guy near us yell. Yeah, like any of us school kids knew what was going on.

Daddy and I looked at the sky and neither of us could look away. Our moon wasn't a half moon anymore. It was tilted weirdly and it was a three-quarter moon and it got bigger — er, well closer — like...colossal big. Way too big, way too visible. It hung smack dab in the middle of the night sky. It was so close, in fact, that I could make out the details of the craters without the telescope.

The astronomers from earlier were gonna have to explain this, but how? I don't think any of them saw this part coming at all. Though, I do have one theory...What I think happened was the guys at NASA miscalculated the density of the asteroid and this asteroid was so dense it knocked our moon completely out of whack. That's my theory at any rate...

This space object was still our moon, and it was still a huge, dead rock in the sky but it sure as hell wasn't benign anymore. It was truly terrifying and I felt everyone begin to panic. I felt myself panic too, but I was pushing it away. Some of the kids began praying, others fled the chaotic scene.

Daddy tapped my shoulder. "Let's go home," he said. "I am prolly not gonna be able to deal with this noise."

I nodded, "Same here."

So, together we got up and snuck away with our drinks and then got in the car.

"Call Grandpa," Daddy ordered, handing me his phone.

"Uhh...right..."

I pulled up the contacts and searched for Grandpa's number. I clicked it, only to find out the phone wasn't getting a connection.

"No connection," I whispered shakily.

"No connection?"

"Mh-mh."

"Shit...well, I guess he's fine."

Without another word, we finished the drive in silence. When we got home, we went inside and immediately turned on the TV.

The anchors on Wavy never looked so petrified as they made their report on the events outside the newsroom. Restraining from speaking, we watched the show until Grandpa got home.

"Grandpa!" I jumped up and hugged him tightly when he came by me.

"Ohh..." he moaned. "Careful, sweetheart."

He sighed heavily, putting his arms around me.

"I tried to get ahold of you guys, but I couldn't get a connection," he whispered.

"We did the same thing for you, Dad," Daddy responded.

We were silent for a moment.

"Well, I'm glad y'all are okay."

So, I sat down with Grandpa and tried to watch TV with them, but we lost reception. After a few moments, I went upstairs and brought down my alarm clock radio and plugged it in. I managed to get FM99 going so we listened closely to it.

At first, no one knew what to say because they didn't know much more than we did. Moon got hit as predicted, but something wasn't calculated correctly. And before an astronomer could get on to explain what happened, we got a bulletin. That's when TV reception returned and we turned my radio off.

We sat there, glued to the TV like we were watching 9-11 all over again. Only, this wasn't a terrorist attack. This was a natural event.

The reporter turned pale, assuming he heard something over the earpiece that didn't look good and wasn't. He proceeded to say, "Is this confirmed? Are you sure?" there as a short pause as he listened to the response. I clenched Grandpa's shirt nervously as the reporter was reporting what was going on. "We're now receiving reports of widespread tsunamis. As we all know, the moon controls the tides and the moon, well, whatever the heck just happened at 9:37 pm changed the tides. Oh..Yes, I got that. The tides have swelled far beyond their normal boundaries. Massive flooding has been reported all along the eastern seaboard. This has only been partially confirmed..." He paused again. "huh?"

I quickly remembered Yamato-Sensei in Japan. Did he make it home safely?

Before I could say it, Daddy muttered to himself, "I hope Yamato-Kun is okay..."

I nodded.

"All right, we're getting more confirmation," the reporter continued. "There are tidal waves twenty feet or higher battering Virginia Beach. There doesn't seem to be an end in sight!"

My heart raced. I felt Grandpa tense up. Daddy stared at the TV silently, but eventually pulled out his phone to call Yamato-Sensei to make sure he's home and safe. After a moment of listening to the busy signal, he put the phone down.

"This is getting ridiculous!" the reporter exclaimed. "The barrier islands off the coast of the coast of the Carolinas...has been..." he gulped. "Has been submerged. Cape cod too. Gone. Just gone." He paused again. "Catastrophes in Miami...many deaths, many casualties— "

Grandpa turned off the TV.

"I don't want the rest of this," he muttered hotly. "Let's go to bed."

I nodded.

"Yeah. Maybe we'll wake up and find that it's not as bad as they say right now," I said, doubtful of my words.

"Doubtful." Grandpa sighed.

"Yeah..." Daddy also sighed. "But I'm not tired. You two can head to bed."

So, I did. I gave them hugs and then headed into my room with my alarm clock and I plugged it in and turned on the radio. The East Coast tired are pulling away, but with this storm nearing, it prolly won't stop much. The Pacific is being affected too now. They're worried for San Fran, LA, and san Diego. Right now they're reporting that Hawaii is gone and so are parts of Alaska.

I'm not sure what to feel right now...

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	2. Two

_Light of the Moon  
月の光_

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Chapter Two

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Thursday, May 19,

I woke up around 2:45 in the morning to the sound of my door opening. Not too soon after, I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Taylor, wake up sweetheart," a soft voice whispered in my ear. I recognized the voice as Daddy's.

"Daddy?" I whispered back, rolling over to look at him.

"Come on," he urged. "I want you and your grandfather downstairs where I can see you."

"Why?" I asked. "What's going on?"

"There's a tornado _warning _in effect for Chesapeake," he explained. "C'mon!"

I groaned and sat up.

"I'll be going to sleep in my chair and if you'd like, you may snuggle with me and go back to sleep."

"Yeah..." I yanked my Pokemon blanket off my bed and I grabbed my little Takamichi off my bed and followed Daddy downstairs. Already downstairs and on the couch, getting ready to go back to sleep, was Grandpa. He pulled his blanket over him and sighed heavily. Beside him, I noticed, he had a glass of water...and a book. Typical for my grandpa. He can't go anywhere without a book. Not even downstairs to sleep. I know he'd been asleep as long as I was and he probably was tired, but of course before he went back to sleep he had to read for a few minutes. Go figure.

Daddy got into his chair and laid back in it, then threw his blanket over his body and gestured for me to come sit with him...well, lay down and pass back out.

"Come on," he smiled tiredly.

I nodded and crawled into the chair with him and curled up against his chest. Yes, even at fifteen I like to snuggle with my dad. I've always loved it, and prolly won't stop it. Yes, weird. I know.

I fell back asleep and woke up at five-thirty and found out I wasn't going to school.

"You are most definitely not going to school," Grandpa told me. "Get your shower quickly and then we're gone."

"Where are we going at five in the morning?" I asked.

"Shopping. Grocery shopping," Daddy interjected before Grandpa could say something.

"Yeah, basically. We're gonna try to beat the crowds before they hit the stores today," Grandpa explained.

"You know, don't worry about a shower. Just change and we can head out sooner," Daddy said. "I mean, yeah we're hitting the smaller businesses which don't get much attention but we also need stuff from the bigger stores and so we must hit the bigger ones first," Daddy said.

"Good thinking Kakashi!" Grandpa praised. "Go change your clothes instead, Taylor."

"Uh...right..." I dashed up to my room and I changed into cleaner clothes. I grabbed my red hair tie and tied my messy, silver, hair back and ran back down to them.

"Ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be at o' dark hundred...," I grumbled.

"Great, let's go then," Grandpa grabbed the keys and we hurried out.

"The bank is our first stop," Daddy said as we got into the truck. "Most places lost electricity, but the bank is on the same grid as we are so we're gonna be able to get the cash we need to shop."

"Mm, I caught them saying when you go into a store, everything in your cart all together is a hundred bucks," Grandpa said. "No matter the actual price of it all."

I nodded and we drove out.

"Right," I acknowledged him.

"So...about $600 per person," Dad asked. "To withdraw?"

"Yeah," Grandpa agreed. "Oh! And gas! We need to refill our tanks."

"Crap, my car's tank needs to be refilled," Daddy said.

"Don't worry about it, it'll wait till this afternoon," Grandpa assured, looking at 7-11's gas prices. "Whoa, $5 a gallon? Blessed goddess!"

"Five?!" I exclaimed, looking too. "_Jesus Christo_! I've never seen the price go that high before."

"Gas is high in demand, now," Grandpa explained. "Gas is high in demand because people are gonna get as much gas as they can before they can't access it anymore. We kinda need to do the same."

He slammed on the brakes when someone barreled across the intersection and Grandpa growled.

"Moron!" he hissed.

Grandpa sighed heavily and continued driving, slower this time.

So, we hit the bank and got out the money we needed and filled the gas tank with gas and then hit the stores.

"When we get to the supermarket, Kakashi, I want you to get canned fruits and veggies and bottled water. Taylor, you get health supplies. Bandaids, aspirin, peroxide, medicine; cold medicine flu medicine, cough drops."

"So the world is coming to an end and we're gonna fix it with aspirin and bandaids," I quipped. "Fantastic."

"I will worry about other things we need," Grandpa ignored my sarcasm. "Then, we'll hit the smaller markets for the rest. Got it?"

"Yeah," Daddy and I said as we pulled into a parking space.

Grandpa turned to look at me and grinned.

"Good luck," he said. "And Taylor, do not forget your girl stuff."

"Oh yeah...thanks..." I took the cash I was given and opened my door.

Grandpa and Daddy soon followed me and I dashed into the store, grabbing a cart and running into the minor chaos of the store. Despite it being nearly six in the morning, there were already people there. It was odd, but I ignored it and did as I was told. Adults were running around, bumping into one another, frantic for food for their families, while I was semi-calm. I just quietly pushed the cart into the health section and grabbed what I needed. 15 boxes of pads, I ransacked the medicine (and got allergy stuff since I was almost out and I needed it), three boxes of bandaids and two bottles of peroxide. Also, I grabbed vitamin D and sleep aids to be safe. I have trouble sleeping so I need something to help me fall asleep. I checked the cart to see if I had everything and then checked out. I gave the cashier a $100 bill and sped out back to the truck. The rain came down much more gently than it was when Daddy woke me at 2:40. In fact, it was a soft drizzle. I stood by the truck, waiting for Grandpa. Soon, I was joined by Daddy, who looked pretty tired which I noticed. Without a word, he stood by me until Grandpa came out. When he got to the truck, he opened it quickly and with slight irritation. Perhaps it was because he prolly had to fight someone because they were trying to take his cart or something. I don't know, but I guessed that's what it was.

"Alright, just throw everything inside. Well, don't throw, but do put the stuff in," he ordered.

"Right." Daddy and I nodded and the three of us put everything we could into the trunk.

When we finished, we quickly got into the truck and did our other errands. We hit the asian market and we raided for a favorite stuff and grabbed packaged miso and stuff that's supposed to last forever, basically.

It felt so weird doing this shopping. Slowly, I began to wonder if the world was coming to an end. I asked myself it the world was coming to an end as I watched the trees and buildings pass by as we drove around. I didn't have enough guts to ask either of them if they thought the world was coming to an end.

I noticed us heading down Eden Way towards the Greenbriar Mall. Reluctantly, I asked why.

"Despite us not getting power outs due to us living on the hospital grid, it's possible that it can happen so we need candles," Daddy responded.

"And, I'm going to see what we can grow in our backyard, so I'm going to the nursery," Grandpa said.

"I don't think we have a good enough soil for growing food," I murmured.

"Well, it's worth a shot," Grandpa huffed, pulling into a parking space at the mall. I climbed out and walked into the dark mall.

So...what was I supposed to get? I hadn't the foggiest, so I just wandered around aimlessly. No lights, but I had an mp3 player light I could use so I held it up as I walked. I found a store that sold batteries and antique lights that didn't need electricity. I found oil lamps so I grabbed three of them and also a few packs of batteries and matches. We'd need those if and when the power goes out. Silently, I walked up with the stuff and sat them down. He was actually able to ring them up because he had the old-style cash register which didn't require electricity. And, he even bagged the stuff up.

"Would you like the extra oil for those lamps?" he asked.

"Sure," I replied with a nod.

He reached down and pulled out extra things of oil for the lamps and put them in a bag. Then, I handed him two fifties and actually got change back.

"Have a nice day," he told me.

"Thank you," I bowed and then left.

I scurried outside and met up with Dad outside the truck, who noticed what I was carrying in my arms.

"Oil lamps?" he asked.

I nodded, "You never know."

"Good idea," he grinned. "I just grabbed as many candles as I could..." He reached his hand down his pocket and pulled out his keys. "Still have to go back to get a few more."

"Are you sure?" I asked as he unlocked the trunk. "Don't you think we have enough?"

Dad shook his head and I sighed heavily.

"You got the big ones, which lasts a very long time," I told him. "You've got, what, twenty? I think we're fine, Dad. Trust me."

"Really?" he asked. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," I nodded, putting the bags into the trunk. Daddy did the same and then we waited for Grandpa to come with the veggie flats. When he did get out, he walked towards us wearily.

"I figured it's worth a shot," he chuckled nervously. "Uhm, I don't think there's enough space in the back for these so Taylor, go pull up the two seats beside where you sit."

I nodded.

"Yes, Grandpa." I got into the truck and did what he told me to do. He opened the other door and put the stuff onto the floor of the truck beside me.

"Please keep an eye on them," he ordered.

"Of course," I mumbled.

He grinned, "Good girl."

Without another word, he closed the door and got into the driver's seat. Daddy closed the trunk and got in too.

"Let's get this stuff home," Grandpa said. "Alright?"

"Yeah."

The drive home was pretty quiet. The clouds began to part, leaving way for the sun's rays to peak out and warm up the earth. Grandpa turned on the A/C half way home. I frowned but I let it go because it was really getting hot in the car.

As soon as we got home, we unloaded everything from the truck, which took what felt like forever because most of it wasn't bagged. Once everything was inside, we didn't know what to do with them so we just stared at the mess.

"Dad, where the hell are we gonna put these?" Daddy asked, slouching back to lay against the couch.

"He's right," I said, doing the same thing. "Where are we going to put these?"

"You're right..." Grandpa placed his hand on the edge of the counter and leaned heavily on that side. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily. "Oh goodness...let me look around the garage. What I might have us do is just stack over there in the corner, but let's see how much shelf space we have outside."

"Yeah, go do that," Daddy sighed heavily.

Grandpa nodded and went into the garage. I rubbed my head.

"Whew! It's muggy outside," I commented.

"Yeah...It's May and we live in Virginia," Dad responded with a wry laugh.

"I know, but still," I fanned myself with my hands. "It's hot!"

"Yeah, sorry," he apologized. "You know what? I don't think the A/C is on, let me go fix that."

"Yes, please," I groaned.

Without another word, he stood up and turned on the A/C, and then Grandpa returned.

"We're gonna have to stack the stuff over there in the corner," he said. "So let's get started before I end up being called in, if I am going to be called in or not."

"Right," I got up and started stacking stuff against the back wall. Well...the food we got today.

So, for the next thirty minutes, the three of us are stacking the cans of food one-by one against the wall.

Soon, it was twelve and my stomach ached for food and I was hot and sweaty. I wiped the sweat from my forehead and sighed.

"Grandpa, can we eat something?" I asked. "I'm hungry and I need a shower desperately because I'm starting to smell like wet dog."

"Yeah, Dad...I'm pretty famished myself," Daddy agreed. "

"I agree," Grandpa agreed. "Taylor, you can take your shower now and come straight back down."

"Yessir." I bowed and then left to go take my shower.

I was in and out within ten minutes, and I took another three to dry off and brush my teeth. While I was putting on my clothes and wringing out my hair, I heard Grandpa talking. I opened the door to hear him and I listened.

"Give me like, thirty minutes. I have to finished cooking... No, Ben, please this can wait thirty minutes. No, Kakashi can't take over for me and neither can Taylor because she refuses to learn how to cook... Thank you sir. I'll be there as soon as possible, I promise."

"Geez, he got called in, didn't he?" I whispered to myself. "But today is his day off...or so I thought."

I hung my towel back on its hook and walked downstairs.

"What is it?" Daddy asked Grandpa.

"Looting...murder...Basically panic and chaos," Grandpa responded.

I slipped down the stairs and walked into the living room.

"Hola," I said.

Grandpa looked at me.

"I'm sorry, Taylor," he apologized quickly as he chopped up the steak. "I'm being called in...I won't be here for lunch and possibly even supper."

I nodded. This was normal. Actually, the first _normal_ thing that's happened in the past twenty four hours.

"It's fine."

"But, I do promise to come give you a kiss if I come home and you're in bed."

I nodded again.

"Alright."

"Now, I've gotta finish cooking," he said. "And I'll be off."

"Right..."

And, he finished making lunch and then left Dad and I to eat and then entertain ourselves. Dad tried to figure out what we could do after lunch and I came up with the idea of studying for my Spanish II exam, which is actually in June but I need to study, in case the school has different plans in mind for us.

"Good idea," Dad said, finishing his steak. "And perhaps also for your English exam. You don't have SOLs for either class."

"Oh yeah..."

So, then we finished our lunch and studied till about four fifteen, when I had to get ready for karate practice. Quickly, I slipped into my gi and we headed out.

"I really hope Yamato-Kun is okay," Dad said in the car.

I nodded.

"I'm sure he's okay," I assured. "I'm sure he got back around five, like Kenta said he would. Uncle Kenta wouldn't lie."

"Yeah," Daddy said. "You're right."

Then, we went silent and so I stared out the window at the moon, looming over us intimidatingly and I couldn't help but glare at it. For the entire ride to practice, I glared angrily at the moon. I know the moon wasn't at fault, but I felt mad at it. I don't know why, exactly.

When we got to practice, I got out of the car quickly because I wanted to know if Yamato-Sensei was okay. Daddy got out of the car as soon as he could and followed me in. Together, we rushed into the dōjō and found Yamato crouched over broken glass and hail by the window. In his right hand, he tossed a small ball of hail up and down and catching it in his hand. Perplexed, he stared at the mess and I knew what he was thinking. I walked over to him calmly and stood beside him.

"Yamato-Sensei?" I asked.

He looked up at me with his gentle, brown eyes and smiled kindly at me.

"Oh! Thank the gods you're okay," he exclaimed. "I worried when I couldn't get ahold of your father or your grandfather."

"Daddy tried to get ahold of you last night too," I told him. "But it seems like phones are out."

"Yeah..." Yamato stood up and sighed. "Goodness, we have a mess to clean up."

"I'll help," I grinned.

Daddy, who was silent, spoke up, "I'll help too, Yamato-Kun."

Uncle Yamato smiled, "Great, but let's make sure no one else is coming. Personally, I don't think anyone else other than you two will come because of last night's events. I don't think parents are worried about their kids' karate practice and honestly I don't blame them."

Daddy and I nodded.

"Yeah."

Silently, Yamato looked past us and then looked back at me.

"Hey Taylor," he grinned. "Want to see what I brought back from Japan? I got three things, all of which you'll love me for. Unfortunately, I left two in my car but oh well. We'll get it on the way out."

I looked at him.

"Huh?"

Grinning, he reached into his gi and pulled out a CD.

"This is the first one," he told me, handing it to me.

I took it from his hands and looked.

"Th-The Harukanaru Toki no Naka de CD?"

"Signed by the voice actors for the Hachiyou."

I gasped.

"K-Kazuhiko-Sama!? Shinichiro Miki?! Akira Ishida?! Shigeru Nakahara?" I hugged the CD close. "I have the Hachiyou's signatures!"

Daddy laughed as I jumped up and threw my arms around Yamato-Sensei and hugged him tightly.

"I love you!" I cried.

Yamato laughed too.

"I know you do," he grinned.

"How'd you do it?" I asked.

"Anime con in Tokyo. I saw the cast as gonna be there and I already had the CD for you so I went and asked for their signatures," he explained. "I knew you'd love it." He looked down. "Oh shoot, my other gifts are in the car, man I totally forgot. Sorry, but let's worry about it later though, let's get this out of the way."

He looked up and looked around.

"We should start cleaning, I don't think anyone else is gonna show up," he told us.

"Yeah," Daddy and I agreed.

"Here, I'll hold onto the CD," Daddy offered with a smile.

"You don't have a place to put it," I said.

"Right..."

"Just set the CD over here," Yamato pointed to the table. "No one is gonna take it, sweetheart."

"Right, Uncle Yamato," I said, doing as he told me. "And let's start cleaning."

"Whoa, not so fast," Yamato raised his eyebrows. "You don't even have a broom yet."

"Oh, right..." I murmured.

"Oi...come on _koibito_, let's get a brook and dust pan so we can clean that up," he gestured me with his hand.

I nodded and followed him to the closet. He pulled out two brooms and handed them to me, "One for you and one for Kakashi."

"Right."

"I'll handle the dust pan."

"Right, but where do you want us to dump the trash?" I asked.

Yamato pondered it for a moment, turned around and dug through the closet until he found a box of trash bags.

"One of these," he said. "This'll do."

I nodded and he pulled out a bag.

"One will do. It's only the back wall windows that shattered," he told me.

"Right."

"Now, go take that to your dad and let's get started," he smiled.

"Mhm," I nodded and took the brooms to Daddy. "Here." I handed him one.

He took the one I gave him and started cleaning.

"I'm sorry we have to do this," Yamato apologized, walking towards us. "I did not get here until a few minutes ago because I woke up at ten in the morning to a very panicked Kenta and he dragged me out with Anne to do shopping."

"Don't worry about it," Daddy smiled. "We did our fair share of shopping —"

"At five in the morning," I grumbled.

"Y-Yeah, at five in the morning," Daddy finished.

"Five?!" Yamato exclaimed.

"Yeah, it was Grandpa's idea," I swept the glass with Daddy. "Mehhh I'm so tired."

"Which reminds me, I need to fill up my gas tank on our way home," Daddy muttered under his breath.

"Yeah," I murmured back.

"I guess I should too," Yamato realized.

"Mm"

And then, we worked in silence for about thirty minutes before we were done and all three of us were beyond exhausted because we were really hot.

"Phew!" I sighed, taking off my gi top (I had an undershirt underneath so...).

"It's so hot," Daddy muttered.

"Naw...really? Couldn't tell..." I remarked, sitting down on the now clean floor. "God, this heat is unbearable."

"I think I'll take off my shirt," Daddy said. "Do you mind at all, Yamato-Kun?"

"I was about to do the same so feel free, Kakashi-Sama," he replied. "I don't care.

So, at about the same time, Yamato and Daddy both took off their tops and sighed.

"Well, at least the dōjō is clear," Yamato sighed heavily, looking at the floor.

"Yeah..."

We sat in silence for a few moments.

"It's so hot," Dad murmured tiredly.

"Yeah, you think so?"

"So um...do you still want to do practice today or should we cancel?" Yamato asked me. "Since there is no A/C and I didn't realize it would be so harsh in here

"Cancel," I said. "Too damn hot."

"I agree..." Yamato murmured.

Daddy grabbed my CD from the table and sat it down in his lap with his shirt.

"Let's just sit here," he chuckled. "And rest a bit."

We nodded.

"God I hate hot weather," Yamato stated. "I hate working in it too, it tends to make me tired."

"Yeah," I agreed.

"I'm okay with hot temperatures usually, but it feels like an oven and I'm not okay with that," Daddy told us.

"You can say that again," I muttered.

Yamato-Sensei looked around, "You're right...I wonder why..."

"It's an enclosed space?" I asked.

"Perhaps, my little scientists," Daddy grinned.

"That's probably why," Yamato agreed. "The A/C isn't working so the 95 degrees outside feels like 105 degrees."

"Jesus Christo!" I groaned.

Yamato stood up and slipped back into his gi top and sighed.

"I need to look into ways of cooling the building down," he thought out loud.

"Buy everyone paper fans," Daddy suggested.

"Tempting..." Yamato sighed. "Oh...I'm just gonna cancel all classes today and tomorrow, let the kids and their families recover from this event. Let's just head out of here, guys."

"Yeah," Daddy and I stood up. He put his shirt back on and I folded my gi top over my arms and followed them out.

"Sorry Taylor-San," Yamato apologized.

I looked up.

"Huh? No need to apologize, Uncle Yamato," I smiled. "It's not your fault it's hotter than hell."

"I know, but you were expecting karate practice today," he said.

"Yeah, but I didn't think it'd be this hot today. It's okay, really, Uncle Yamato," I said as we approached the parking lot.

Silently, he led us to his car and he unlocked it. He opened the back door and pulled out a white kimono that looked a lot like Tomomasa's and on top was his fan, which he carried around a lot. I gasped and my eyes widened with excitement.

"Oh my gosh!" I hugged him tightly. "Awesome! You're the awesomest uncle in the world, you know that right?!"

In sync, Daddy and Yamato laughed.

"I'm glad you feel that way, sweetheart," replied Yamato, hugging me back.

Daddy chuckled and I kept hugging Yamato until Daddy told me that we should head home.

"Oh...okay..." I let go and Yamato took my hand and kissed it. I felt myself blush.

"I will see you on Tuesday, Miko-Sama," he joked.

I giggled and nodded.

"Okay, Tomomasa-Dono," I grinned.

"I'm not a ladies' man like he is," Yamato winked.

Both Daddy and I chuckled and then he put his hand on my shoulder.

"See ya later, Yamato-Kun," he said. "Tell Kenta-Kun I said hi."

"Will do, Kakashi-Sama," Yamato let go of my hand and smiled. "I will see you guys later."

"Right."

Yamato-Sensei waved as Daddy walked to the car with me.

Despite the fear I've had for the past 24 hours, I didn't stop smiling after that. It was a tiresome day I've had and Uncle Yamato brightened my day up. I've got the best uncle in the world.

Friday, May 20,

I woke up late last night as Grandpa came in to give me a kiss on my cheek. Soon after he left, fortunately, I fell back to sleep. Then, I woke up again at about six in the morning to Daddy walking in. My door opened and then I heard him walk inside and walk across the floor to my nightstand and switched off my alarm before it had the chance to blare at me. I opened my eyes and looked up at him.

"Otousan?" I whispered.

His blue eyes looked at me and he turned so his body faced me.

"What're you doing?" I asked.

"Go back to sleep," he ordered me with a smile.

"Huh?"

"You've got no school," he explained softly. "Four day weekend, yay."

I nodded.

"Okay..." I said tiredly.

He put his hand on my shoulder and smiled again.

"Go back to sleep," he ordered, smiling still. "Alright?"

"Uh...right," I nodded and closed my eyes. "Love you..."

"Love you too," Daddy then left and I went back to sleep.

I woke back up for the last time at nine-thirty and I took my shower and went downstairs. Grandpa was in the kitchen fixing breakfast, Daddy was in his chair reading silently. Seemed pretty much like a normal morning with no school or work.

"Ohayo," I said, approaching the living room.

Daddy looked up.

"Buenos días, Taylor," he smiled.

"Morning, _koibito_," Grandpa said, not looking up from what he was doing. "How'd you sleep?"

"Just fine," I said, opening and closing my fan. "You?"

"I think I slept well," he said. "I feel oddly well rested."

"That's good, I think," I giggled.

"Well, I think it's because I was so exhausted yesterday," he thought out loud. "I don't know."

I giggled again, "Well, as long as you feel rested for once."

"Yeah," I saw him crack a smile.

Since Grandpa took the day off (courtesy of Chief Grant), he dragged us outside into the backyard and started getting the yard ready to plant flats. I plowed the backyard until Grandpa told me to stop, and then Daddy dug holes for the plants to go in. In the mean time, I'd gone back inside to drink some ice, cold, water and cooled off, then I went back out and helped Grandpa and Daddy plant and water the plants. I think in all, that took a few hours to do.

"Whew!" I wiped the sweat from my forehead.

"That's finally done," Dad sighed.

"Yeah, now let's see if we can't make a little scarecrow to go in the middle," joked Grandpa.

"Haha, very funny Dad," Dad rolled his eyes at the joke.

"Come on now, let's go inside and rehydrate and then rest..." Grandpa put his hand on his back and walked inside.

"Yeah," we agreed and followed him inside. I flicked my fan open and fanned myself.

"Whew! Those are some brutal temps," I commented.

"You've lived here for...how long and this still surprises you?" Daddy asked.

"No, not really but it does bother me a bit," I mentioned.

"Mm..."

Saturday, May 21,

The president came on TV tonight and he didn't say much that we didn't already know. They still are unsure how many people are dead, moon is out of orbit (thanks Captain Obvious). Monday has been made the national day of mourning and he said that we should pray a lot.

The one thing that struck me as a bit unnerving is that he said we need to prepare for the worst and no he didn't look happy about it at all.

Another thing was almost every offshore oil refinery was gone and most of the oil tankers, they believe, had been lost to the rough seas.

When the president finished, each of the governors from every state followed him and we waited for ours to come on, although most of them told the same thing. No school Monday or Tuesday and it should be back on Wednesday, although some school districts might not be able to reopen. There's also the possibility of rationing.

No one knew when the blackouts would stop.

None of the news was comforting so I leaned against Daddy and I clutched his shirt nervously and he rubbed my back.

"Things will get better," he assured. "It just might not be in our immediate future..."

I looked up at him.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"I'm positive," he replied. "Don't worry."

"I hope you're right..."

Sunday, May 22,

Grandpa took me to work today to help out a bit. My job today was to help organize papers for him. If I found certain cases, I'd put them in a folder to match that case type and if I found one I couldn't figure out, I had to give it to Grandpa for him to figure out. While I did that, he worked on another case.

The only time I actually bothered him was to hand him something I couldn't understand. Around 1 in the afternoon, Grandpa knew we needed a break so he suggested we go outside for a few minutes and rest and eat.

I nodded.

"Y-Yeah," I agreed. "I need a break from this work."

Grandpa reached down and grabbed his lunch bag.

"Come on, I'm telling the chief that we're taking a lunch break," he said.

I nodded and stood up, following Grandpa out. He told Grant where we'd be and then we sat out on the tailgate of the truck. Silently, he pulled out two bento boxes and two bottles of water.

"Here," he handed me one of each. "Eat up."

I nodded.

"Mhm."

I took the bento box and began eating. Silently, we ate in the Virginian spring heat and listened to the birds chirp happily as if nothing's wrong and cars drive past us, enter the parking lot or leave it.

"How far into the stack are you?" Grandpa asked.

"Halfway," I responded softly.

"That's good," he smiled. "If I have to go interrogate someone, are you okay with stay at my desk by yourself?"

I nodded.

"Yeah, of course.

"Alright, good," he smiled softly at me. "I don't know if I'll be pulled to interrogate someone but I wanted to check with you in advance."

"Yeah," I nodded. "That's fine."

And luckily, Grandpa wasn't pulled to interrogate someone. We finished the work and immediately went home with the chief's permission, of course.

Monday, May 23,

No one turned on the TV today since it was national day of mourning and neither Daddy nor I wanted to see the specials. Grandpa was at work and he managed to call us before supper.

"Hola?" I answered the phone.

"Sweetheart?" he asked.

"Mhm."

"Hey there, sweetie, Grandpa isn't gonna be home tonight," he said softly. "I'm wrapped up in work."

I nodded.

"Okay, I'll tell Daddy." I responded.

"Thank you sweetheart," he thanked me.

"Mhm." I nodded.

"Love you," he told me.

"Love you too," I responded.

He hung up and I turned to Daddy.

"Hm?"

"Grandpa isn't coming home tonight," I said.

Daddy nodded.

"Alright..." he said.

I sat the phone down and went to go eat supper.

Tuesday, May 14,

Daddy dragged me out today to get more gas, which magically went up to $7 a gallon. Ouch! There was a line at 7-11 but Daddy got in line despite his lack of patience in lines. He handed me a twenty.

"Go get us slurpees," he suggested.

I took the $20 and nodded.

"Yes, Daddy," I took his suggestion and unbuckled.

He gave me a kiss on my cheek and I left to get slurpees. I went inside and there was a bit of a line on this inside of the store too. Silently, I walked to the back and got us slurpees.

I was quiet as I wondered if Grandpa was coming home tonight. I was surprised that he even got through to us last night. Will he be able to again? If he can't come home again? I released the pull thingy and put a lid on my cup and made Daddy's cup. I wondered if we should head to the precinct with a bento box for him and ask if he has to stay another day. I got in line with the two drinks and wondered if that's what we should do after this.

When I finally paid for the drinks, I hurried back out to Daddy and got into the car.

"Wow, still in line?" I asked, handing the banana flavored one to him.

"Mm..._Arigatou gozaimasu,_" he thanked me. "Yeah, but man do you so the line behind us?" he took the drink and took a sip.

I looked out behind us.

"Whoa."

"Yeah. We got here at a good time, luckily," Daddy mentioned.

"Yeah really," I agreed.

And so, we sat in silence for a few moments.

"Hey Daddy, do you think we should bring Grandpa a bento box for lunch?"

Daddy pondered it for a moment.

"Yeah, sure," he smiled. "I think he'll love that."

"Can I make his?" I asked.

"Sure," Daddy smiled.

"Awesome," I grinned as he pulled up to the gas pump.

"Alright, I'll be back in a few minutes," he promised.

I nodded and he left the car to get extra gas and he came back after several minutes.

"Alright, lets go home and make Grandpa a bento box," he smiled. "And make sure he's okay."

"Yeah," I nodded.

"Oh! And bring him some clean clothes," Daddy mentioned.

"Oh yeah! Grandpa would most certainly want clean clothes," I agreed. "The other day, when I was there helping him, it was hotter than hell because the A/C wasn't working. The lighting sucked too."

A few moments passed as Daddy thought about something.

"Dad must be tired..." he murmured.

I nodded, "Yeah."

When we got home, we made four bento boxes, one for the each of us for lunch and an extra for Grandpa for supper. After I made Grandpa's bento boxes, I went upstairs to his room to gather clothes for him to wear. I picked out a white, button-up shirt and a pair of black pants and a nice, blue tie. I realized this was pretty normal, considering he's a detective. Grandpa has stayed at work, I think the longest he's stayed was five days because that's all he could manage. He stayed awake for 120 hours straight and add in about five hours before he collapsed from exhaustion. That was the last time the chief allowed Grandpa to stay awake more than four days.

I walked downstairs with his clothes and I grabbed a bag to carry them in and then I grabbed the bento boxes I made Grandpa and I carefully put them inside.

"Alright," Daddy smiled, putting our bento boxes in. "Ready?"

I nodded.

"Mhm."

"Let's go then," Daddy said.

"Yeah."

Together, we walked out to the car and drove to the precinct. When we got there, we could already tell how busy it was just by the parking lot. Daddy dropped me off at the front so he could look for a space while I looked for Grandpa. Nervously, I walked inside and I weaved my way through the crowd to his desk. I managed to find him and I hurried over to him. He sat at his desk, taking a report from a woman that was about his age and boy did Grandpa look exhausted already. Silently, he reread the paper and read it back to the woman.

"Is this correct?" he asked her softly.

She nodded.

"Yes sir."

Grandpa sat the page down and smiled wearily.

"We'll do our best to find him, ma'am," he assured.

"Thank you, sir," she smiled, standing up.

Grandpa nodded and the woman left. I watched silently as he buried his face in the palms of his hands and he brushed his bangs back with his hands and he sighed. I walked over to him.

"Hi Grandpa," I smiled.

He looked up at me and his slate-blue eyes seemed to brighten up.

"Teirā-San," he whispered.

"I brought clothes," I told him. "And I wanna eat lunch with you and so does Daddy. Can you come outside and take a lunch break for us?"

He reached his hand up to hold my face.

"Thank you so much, sweetheart," he thanked me. He sighed. "Oh, I don't want to disappoint you nor my boy..." he sighed again. "But...oh my dearest Taylor...can we compromise on sitting here and eat lunch while I work?"

I nodded and smiled.

"Of course," I agreed. "It's too hot outside anyway."

"It's hotter than hell in here," Grandpa told me. "The outside sounds like heaven right now. Oh! Come sit down, sweetheart. Just pull up a chair and sit here with me.

I nodded and grabbed a chair and sat down.

Grandpa took his bento box and started eating from it.

"You don't know how tempted I've been to take of my shirt because it's so damn hot in here," he said.

I giggled and nodded.

"I can tell," I responded.

Deputy Riker came in and sat a cup of coffee on Grandpa's desk.

"Your coffee?"

"Thank you..." Grandpa took it and drank it.

Riker looked at me and smiled.

"Good afternoon, Miss Hatake," he smiled.

"Hiya Commander Riker," I grinned.

"What're you doing here?" he asked.

"My daddy and I wanted to eat lunch with Grandpa," I explained.

"Aa, I see," he smiled.

"Speaking of which, where is your father?" Grandpa asked me.

"Trying to find a parking space," I replied.

"Mm...yeah it is hard to find a parking space. I went out earlier and there were hardly any spaces available," Riker said. "And because Carlos is still out, I don't think your granddad will come home tonight, it's just so busy."

"Oh...okay..." I looked down.

"I'm sorry," Riker apologized. "But if Carlos was back, we'd have sent Sakumo back home by now."

"It's okay," I told him.

Riker smiled and waved, "I have to go. I'll see you later."

"Alright."

Not too soon after, Daddy finally got to us.

"Sorry I'm late," he apologized. "It's hard to find a parking space right now."

"Yeah, Riker was just telling us that," Grandpa said. "Kakashi, sit down and eat son."

"Uhh right," Dad did what he was told.

"Riker told me that I might not be able to come home tonight either," he said. "Sorry son."

"That's fine, Dad," Daddy said, getting into his bento box.

Grandpa sighed.

"I just hope I'm not kept much longer than three days," he said. "My body doesn't handle stress and fatigue that well. Coffee does help keep me awake, but I still need as much sleep as I can get."

Daddy nodded.

"I'm scared he might have to keep me here an extra day if this doesn't clear up soon," Grandpa worried. "We all know what happened last time."

"Yeah," Daddy and I both nodded.

So, we sat and ate lunch together and then we left so he could continue his work without distraction. We went back home and then went back out for karate practice, which was amazingly quiet today and also pretty small too. About a sixth of the class was missing, including Miguel. Riker did mention they hadn't come back yet but I was still slightly disappointed. I hope he's okay.

After practice, Daddy took me home and we ate together.

Tomorrow is a school day. I hope all my friends and teachers are okay.

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	3. Three

_Light of the Moon  
月の光_

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Chapter Three

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Wednesday, May 25,

It was strange walking into the school this morning. Glass everywhere, leaves and twigs littered the floor. Makayla stood in the front of the main stairs, nervously shuffling her feet. I stepped on a piece of glass, which cracked and Makayla jumped a little at the sound of the glass cracking. Then, she looked at me and saw me. Her brown eyes widened and a big grin appeared on her face.

"Taylor-Chan!" she called out.

Instead of walking up to the stairs, I walked over to her and she hugged me tightly.

"Oh my gosh! Where were you Thursday? I was worried!" she cried.

"Eep!" I jumped. "Oh..Grandpa dragged Daddy and I to the stores on Thursday, sorry."

"Oh...well that's okay then," Makayla grinned.

"Y-Yeah..."

I bowed.

"Hey, I'll see you in third period," I promised. "I should get to my homeroom."

"Okay!" Makayla smiled. "See ya!"

"_Ja_! _Mata ne_!" I bowed again and dashed upstairs.

The stairs too were littered with glass and twigs. _Why wasn't it cleaned up on Thursday or over the break?_ I wondered. _It's a hazard to us. _Without a word, I listened as the glass crunched beneath my feet and I cringed almost every time. Honestly, I was scared that one was going to poke through the soles of my sandals and cut open my foot. There really wasn't much of a reason to worry though, most of the pieces were too small to go through my sandal, if at all.

Once I was on the second floor, I turned to the right of the library and I went into my science class, since that's my homeroom. Over by his desk was Mr. Griffon, looking a bit perplexed. Silently, I sat my little binder down on my table and sat my bag down by my seat.

"Mr. Griffon?" I grabbed his attention. "Why is the school littered in glass and twigs and stuff still?"

"No one wants to clean it up," he responded tiredly.

"Oh..." I sat my stuff down on my desk and sat on the table and began my day at school.

It was amazing how no one (not even me for once) did their homework and no one had any clue what we were supposed to do. Some of the teachers had us actually do work (two out of the three classes I had today because we didn't have fourth block) and others had us talk about what happened. I didn't say anything because to me, there wasn't anything to talk about. I don't talk about what happens at my home, not in front of dumb asses. In math class though, they wanted to hear about my life the past week though.

"Hey, what about the Chinese girl behind me?" came the arrogant voice of the kid, Xavier, in front of me. "She needs to say something."

"Japanese!" I exclaimed. "I'm not Chinese, I'm Japanese you moron! Ugh, the ignorance!"

"Xavier." Mrs. Bailey called out. "Taylor."

"How do you read those backwards books?" Xavier asked me.

"The same way you read a normal book, duh. Just right to left."

"Taylor. Xavier."

"Why do you speak Japanese anyway?"

"Because that's my first language," I growled. "_Shiseiji__._"

I began cursing out Xavier in Japanese and everyone started laughing, although no one understood a single word I said. My face grew hot with embarrassment and my heart raced, eventually leading to me standing up, gathering my books and leaving.

"_Heya kara deru_. I hope you idiots are happy." I turned around and stormed out of the room.

Basically, I just told them I'm out. I was sick and tired of dealing with their crap. Just about everyone in the room doesn't like me because I'm _different_. Because I'm Japanese and I do things that are completely different from most American customs. I read mangas. I read right to left. I like anime and manga. I bring bento boxes made by my dad for lunch every day. Yeah, I'm different. Unfortunately, no one understands that. No, I did not return to my class for the rest of the day and when I saw kids heading for the auditorium, I went there too because I knew it was everyone from every grade level. I'm surprised I didn't get into trouble for not being in class, but I suppose no one could care about that at this point.

As the first three periods passed, I began to wonder how the heck we were planning to finish the school year. We relied heavily on the Dumboards — I mean Smartboards — to get our notes; we need light to see; the computers to take our SOL tests...etc. Most of my questions were answered during this afternoon's assembly during fourth period.

We dismissed from third block to the auditorium and we sat our butts down in our seats. As everyone came into the auditorium, I took notice to how many absentees we had. There are about 2000 kids in the entire school and it seemed like 1/3 was there. That's 2/3 of the school population absent. Although, I can't complain really. That's nearly 1000 kids less I have to bump into while walking through the halls. I crossed my right knee over my left and rested my head down on my right hand in wait for everyone to shut up and sit down. Once everyone was in and settled down, Mr. Perez began making the announcements.

First, he riled us up with the normal greeting of, "Good morning Oscar Smith Jaguars!" Everyone, except for me, responded with "Good morning!". No, I didn't really want to be there.

He started by telling us that we should be glad that we're still alive and safe and thankd the teachers for what they've done, despite a great majority of them were missing. And although this may seem like a local crisis, that isn't the case. He has great faith that as Virginians, we'll be able to pull through. A few kids scoffed at that and Mr. Perez ignored it.

Then, he went on to talk about the sacrifices we were going to have to make. I couldn't sympathize with many of my fellow peers because I had power, so I barely understood the thing about electricity. Only times I wasn't going to have any electricity was at school and at practice. But, I did understand the fact that supermarkets weren't gonna reopen any time soon and the gas being about nine bucks a gallon.

No more after school activities. The prom and senior trip were that was said, people started booing. _What babies they are! _I thought. _Oh boo hoo, the prom and trip are cancelled! Look at all the craps I give (none)!_ I think even if I was a senior I'd actually shrug it off. I mean, I don't do dances so why would I be bothered about the prom? Well, maybe if I had a date to it I might be a little disappointed, but at the same time I just don't care. By the time he said bus service was cancelled, everyone was booing and I didn't see many problems with it. Then again, I live just down the road off of Battlefield Blvd.

He let them boo. I guess he knew nothing could be done to stop them. Ten minutes passed and then the bell rang and we just headed back to our third periods and were dismissed from there. I do know I watched a few kids run into classes and break windows and they had cops take them out before they could escape. Don't think anyone was hurt, thankfully.

After school, I came home around the same time Grandpa did. He pulled up into the driveway at the same time I got to the grass. I looked up.

"Grandpa!" I exclaimed. "You're finally home!"

He looked at me and gave me a weary smile.

"Hiya sweetheart," he greeted.

"Wow, you looked tired," I commented.

"I'm sure I do," he agreed. "Hey sweetheart, I'm gonna go straight to bed. I'm sorry, I'm just extremely tired today."

"That's fine, Grandpa," I responded.

Returning my smile, he turned and opened the front door and I followed him in. Instead of greeting Daddy, he went upstairs and I guess passed out on his bed.

I'm so glad he's home though.

Saturday, May 28,

Yamato-Sensei came over to check on us and he and I sparred for the hell of it.

So far, the plants in the backyard are growing well. In the back is some wheat, which was an attempt. No guarantees that'll work, we all agree. Yamato noticed them during his visit and asked about them.

"Well, if we're not going to have markets open then we're going to need fresh vegetable," Grandpa explained.

"Oh," Yamato nodded agreeingly. "Makes perfect sense."

Grandpa nodded.

"Especially since our last name means, 'field', which is often associated with you know, farmland," Daddy joked.

"A pun to our name," I giggled. "Oh myyy."

"Okay, stop it George," Yamato told me.

"That's just creepy coming from you," Daddy mentioned bluntly.

I giggled again.

"That's what I was going for," I winked.

Yamato grinned and we talked for awhile. He asked me about what's been going on at school

"School is slowly going back to normal," I explained. "Wednesday barely anyone was there and then on Thursday, more of my peers and the teachers were back, but still there was a noticeable hole in the amount of teachers and students. No bus service so a lot of people have to find ways to get to school. Haha, I don't have to worry about that!"

"You're gonna have to bike to school," Grandpa mentioned. "I want to save fuel for the truck for practice, work, and emergencies, alright?"

"Yeah, I understand," I nodded.

Grandpa smiled.

"So, Yamato, want to stay for supper?" he asked.

"Ah, sure," he smiled.

"Ooh, can we have the frozen mochi?" I asked.

"Yes," Grandpa nodded. "Of course, sweetheart."

I smiled.

"Sweet."

Sunday, May 29,

We had a gentle rainstorm today. It was a nice one. Thankfully, it was not like the storm from a few weeks ago so no one was as panicked as they were that day.

Also, the garden got some rain which was good because we forgot to water it yesterday. Oops.

And this morning, I saw a cat walk into our backyard and come sit at the backdoor. After a bit, she clawed at the door and cried. Finally, I opened the door and the cat walked in. Silently, I watched as she walked in and walked up to Grandpa.

"Oh crap! Whoa, I didn't think she'd do that," I spoke with disbelief.

Grandpa, who held a butcher's knife in his hand, stepped back worriedly.

"Taylor, put her back outside," he demanded. "We can't feed her."

"I know," I dashed over and picked the kitty up. "I'm sorry Grandpa. I didn't think she'd walk in."

He thought for a moment.

"But..." he sliced a bit of meat off the steak. "Give this small sliver to her." He handed it to me and looked at the cat. "Kitty, it's not much but I hope it's good."

I took the sliver of meat from him and smiled. The cat meowed like, "It's okay stranger! Thank you!" I smiled a little and took her outside and sat her down. Then, I closed the screen door behind me and crouched down to let her down and let her go. Then, I held out the sliver of steak and allowed her to eat it.

"I hope you live long and prosper," I murmured, moving my fingers on my hand to do the _Star Trek_ symbol. "Live long and pawspurr."

The kitty finished eating and left. I sighed, "Please stay safe kitty..."

Monday, May 30,

The cat came back but she wanted attention this time. I think she loves me because she doesn't growl nor does she bite or scratch me. In fact, when I tried to go back inside, she clung to my leg, wanting more attention. I laughed it off and would go back to give her more love and attention. Daddy found it hysterical too.

"She just doesn't want you to go," he laughed.

I giggled a bit.

"I suppose not."

And when I was called in for supper, I had to go inside.

"I'm sorry kitty, I have to go," I apologized. "Come back tomorrow after school, okay?"

She nodded and left. I smiled.

"Aww..."

And that's when I stood up and went inside to eat supper on this Memorial Day.

Tuesday, May 31,

First day of no bus service. Naturally, Virginian weather called for rain. Oh...typical...

Grandpa took me to school today because of that and Daddy picked me up.

Over half the students were absent, I noticed. But many of the teachers were there so we actually got crap done today. Electricity came back till about three, so though it was dark and melancholy, school was cheery for once. Empty and melancholy, yet cheerful.

We found out that SOLs were cancelled today, but no one knew what they planned for the finals, which started in about two weeks. We haven't had much in the way of school work and no one gave homework because there is no way of knowing when they'll be light to work by. Chief Grant is willing to bet they might just close next week and promote everyone and hope everything gets better by September.

I would love things to go back to normal, but yet I don't see that happening really.

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End file.
